A day in the trenches

Yesterday Damien and I hiked up a few mountains to get a view of the surrounding area and so he could show me 'the trenches'.

Literally. Korean war-era trenches.

On the second mountain we soon came across this barbed wire, with a space cut out for the trail...


Without hesitation, we crossed through the trap and continued up the mountain.

Soon we came upon the trench. It's a bit eerie to see these trenches...They've been there for 60 years now and are mostly overgrown. Damien thought they may still be used in training exercises but they sure don't look like they get much use to me. After hiking up the mountain and coming upon the trenches, you can't help but think about what it must have been like for the soldiers during the Korean civil war...climbing a mountain with all your gear, huddled in the trenches, watching enemies come towards you up the side of the mountain through the forest.
Anyway, I'll just serve you a montage of photos of the trenches..





















As you can see in the 2 pictures on the side here, we soon came upon a bunker. So of course we went down in to it. I made him go first because I was afraid of any freaky Korean bugs or creatures that may be lurking. He made sure the coast was clear and managed to open the door, so I followed him down. The sandbag steps had all eroded away, and with the recent rain/typhoon the ground was rather muddy and slippery. So of course I fell. Twice. But I finally made it into the room. Here is a photo of me demonstrating the use of an assault rifle against oncoming North Koreans..


Note the dirt and sweat. It was the complete battlefield experience. Unfortunately in this picture you can't really see the blood and scrapes on my arms and legs. I'm glad I got a tetanus shot before I came here.

So after exploring the trenches we continued on up the mountain. Along the way were several grave sites...some actual cemetaries, others unmarked. In Korea people are buried on the mountains, in a sitting position. So there are small burial mounds at every grave site. The anthropologist in me was really ineterested in this...do they use coffins of some kind? A shroud? Are they buried with personal goods? Damien didn't know any of these answers. I will have to learn more. Here is a picture of one unmarked site along the mountain trail...


As we continued on up the mountain, we found a few good spots with a great view of the surrounding area. Here is one I think towards the north...


And here is one towards the southwest, with Seoul and the mountains in the far distance:


Close to the top we came upon another trench with a good view of the distant city...



Finally at the top was an old military helipad. It's now pretty overgrown. It reminded me a lot of the question mark/pearl station location in Lost. I'm a huge nerd.


So, after an hour and a half of hiking up a mountain with very little water between us, we had finally reached the end. The way back down was far far easier. It only took about half the time. Once back in Janggi, we found a big fountain a bunch of kids were playing in, so we joined in a bit to cool down. Then I went home, took a much needed shower, tended my battle wounds, and relaxed the rest of the day. It was the most strenuous day I've had in a long time.

...Guess it will be good practice for Taekwondo tomorrow! Yeah!

Oh, also yesterday I ran into another American on the street. First one I've seen in the area in the 2 weeks I"ve been here. Today he invited me to join him and the other local foreigners for coffee, so that will be fun to meet some more people.

So, weekend number 2 was another success! Now to prepare for Taekwondo, and another week struggling through my kindy class. Oh, joy.